She was directly in the path of the storm as she drove home down Pershing Avenue.

Mya, a St. Louis native, described the day to First Alert 4 as starting out normally. “It was something straight out of a movie — a true nightmare,” she said.

She noted that despite the dark skies, she pressed on, encouraged by a call from her father. “My dad called me and he was like, whatever you do like, stop what you’re doing. You’re that close. Like, just get home.”

The weather deteriorated before she could get to safety. She contacted her mother in a panic as the rain got worse and trees started to fall all around her.

Tina Grimes recalled the distressing call, “When I answered the phone, I just wasn’t prepared for what